Diabetics who eat breakfast late are more likely to be obese

A new paper in the journal Diabetic Medicine has identified “evening persons” with Type 2 diabetes as those with higher body mass indices (BMI), primarily because they eat breakfast later in the day. In the study, researchers had used mediation analysis to look at the relationship among meal timing, morningness-eveningness preference, and BMI in people with Type 2 diabetes.

According to researchers, obesity is prevalent in people with Type 2 diabetes where it can lead to poor health outcomes.

To understand how these two factors are related, the team conducted a clinical trial that involved 210 non-shift workers with pre-existing Type 2 diabetes.

In the trial, information such as morningness-eveningness preference was gathered using the Composite Scale of Morningness (CSM) questionnaire. Participants also answered a one-day food recall, providing data regarding meal timing and daily calorie intake.

After adjusting for relevant covariables, the team used mediation analysis to determine the correlation between the variable, taking note on whether BMI is directly affected by morningness-eveningness – or if it relied on other variables such as meal timing as an intermediary.

Of the average BMI of 28.4 (with a standard deviation of 4.8 kg per sq m), those who had a greater preference for evenings had a higher BMI (P = 0.019). Having a late breakfast time, meanwhile, was non-significantly associated with a higher BMI (P = 0.053). Other meal times or calorie intakes were not associated with BMI increase. Moreover, eveningness was linked to late breakfast times.

Consequently, those who had a preference for mornings were associated with taking their breakfast early, having a lower BMI by 0.37 kg per square meter. The direct relationship between BMI and morningness-eveningness, however, did not yield significant results.

Researchers deduced that people with Type 2 diabetes who had an evening preference and a later breakfast time might have a higher BMI, following the mediation of breakfast times between morningness-eveningness preference and BMI. See DiabetesScienceNews.com for more coverage.